Tech

Facebook Embraces Bubbles in Messenger iPhone Upgrade

Bubbles. That's the biggest change you'll probably notice in Facebook's upgraded Messenger. Gone is the flush-left alignment of the previous version of the app and the rectangles that sandwiched your messages.

The other big improvements are the ability to see your full contact list by swiping left and the option to push your most-messaged friends to the top of the list. The iOS version, which offers full support for iOS 6, went live on Friday about a week after the Android version hit.

For Facebook, which has been under the gun by investors to monetize its mobile users, this is the latest upgrade to one of its mobile apps, following an upgrade to its flagship app in late August. The improved mobile experience provided by both apps is designed to keep Facebook relevant and to increase engagement via mobile.

Facebook released Messenger, its second mobile app, in August 2011. While the previous iteration seemed clunky compared to the iPhone's MMS, there's not a huge difference now, though the bubbles are a bit more squarish than Apple's and appear in blue and white rather than Apple's green and gray. On Android, even more integration is possible via SMS threading, which sends any text you receive to the app. (Though the texts won't appear on the desktop or mobile version of Facebook as well.) However, that feature is only available on select Android models.

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